10 Feb 2014

Statement laid by the Minister for External Affairs Shri Salman Khurshid in Lok Sabha today regarding Diplomatic Row with USA in reply to a question is as follows:

On 12 December 2013, Dr. Devyani Khobragade, Acting Consul General of India in New York, was arrested by officers of the Diplomatic Security Service of the US State Department on charges of ‘visa fraud’ and ‘false statement.’ Dr. Khobragade was handcuffed, strip-searched, fingerprinted by US law enforcement authorities, who claimed it was part of their normal procedures, and was later released by a US Court on bail.

The Government took up this issue with the US Government; we conveyed our strong objection to both the arrest of Dr. Khobragade and the manner in which action was taken. The US Government has expressed that it regretted the incident. Dr. Khobragade returned to India on 10 January 2014 after the US granted her full diplomatic immunity.

Although India has expressed serious concern and outrage at the incident, it is also recognized that India and the US have a multi-faceted strategic partnership. Neither side sees this as a ‘single issue’ relationship. For this reason, both sides have agreed to work to address the issues arising as a result of the arrest of Dr. Devyani Khobragade, including negotiating India’s demand for the dropping of all charges against Dr. Khobragade. Towards this end, the two countries have agreed to initiate a dialogue to address all aspects related to diplomatic privileges and immunities in a mutually acceptable manner. At the same time, both sides have agreed to continue to implement other programmes of bilateral cooperation.